


a spoonful of sugar

by sweetwatersong



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Halloween, Minor Jane Foster/Thor, Post-Thor: The Dark World
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 05:46:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5117690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetwatersong/pseuds/sweetwatersong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Halloween in the Foster lab (read: for Jane and Darcy) used to be an all-night movie marathon and competitive kid costume contest. Now, after London, Darcy's not sure what it means - except that she's on her own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a spoonful of sugar

**Author's Note:**

  * For [andibeth82](https://archiveofourown.org/users/andibeth82/gifts).



> For andibeth82, who prompted (long ago) anything containing Darcy. As it's Halloween, and I'm missing people myself, this seemed appropriate.

Darcy finishes crumpling another candy wrapper in her hand. “Sugar.” She eyes the plastic with a balefulness it probably doesn’t deserve. “Sugar is supposed to make me feel better. So why isn’t it working?”

On the other side of the library room Annie pauses in rummaging through her backpack and scoots her chair around to see the carnage. When she spots the scattered wrappers underneath the computer monitor, her immaculately shaped eyebrows rise.

“Wow. That’s a lot of sugar, Darce. And it’s not helping at all?”

“Nope.” Darcy gives the lone Milky Way cowering by her GOV451 notebook a narrow-eyed look. “Not one bit.”

“Huh.” Her roommate pushes herself off the wall and rolls over the linoleum to slide up against Darcy’s chair. Instead of sorting through the chaos to catalog the many and sundry pilfered pieces - it’s not her fault the bowl at the library entrance was unguarded and by the water fountain, okay? - Annie rests her head on Darcy’s shoulder. “What’s bugging you?”

And that’s the real question, isn’t it? Her nebulous, persistent feelings of unrest and dissatisfaction settle at last into words.

“It’s Jane,” she admits, as much to herself as Annie. “For the last two years we’d get candy and hang out at her house for Halloween. We’d argue about the best kid costumes and watch horror movies most of the night. I keep wanting to call her, you know, to see how things are going, what’s she’s up to now. But she’s somewhere doing research with SHIELD, and there’s Thor, and…”

“You’re worried she’s too busy to think about you,” Annie finishes. Having heard about all the fiascoes involving Asgardians and Elves and Chitauri over the years, she takes the drama of Darcy’s life with a matter-of-fact attitude. Darcy wants to hug her just for that.

“It’s stupid.”

“I don’t know about that. You were pretty close to her after New Mexico, and now she’s not a part of your life as much. We all miss our friends.” Her roommate picks her head up and smacks a kiss on her cheek. “Just like I miss you every time you decide to stupidly go home to West Virginia over breaks.”

“That happens to be where my family lives,” Darcy drawls.

“Excuses, excuses. Shoot her a text. The worst that can happen is that she doesn’t get back to you any time soon - and given what you’ve told me about her, that’s pretty typical. Doesn’t mean she’s not thinking about you too.”

“Thank you.” The coil of tension that’s built up inside of her eases. “You’re awesome.”

“Yes, I am,” Annie says with a laugh and snags the Milky Way as she rolls back to her own studying.

“Thief!” Darcy points a finger at her, holding in her own giggling, and only the pointed glare from a student passing by the study room keeps them from continuing.

She takes Annie’s advice and finishes hitting ‘Send’ that night, just as the first deluge of neighborhood kids descends on Main Street. The sight of chattering, toddling kids in every costume imaginable lifts her spirits as she makes her way back to her apartment. There’s a Simba, a broom-toting witch, someone who took the idea of realistic zombies waaay too seriously, and -

“Your costume is fantastic!” Darcy crouches to be on eye-level with the tiny Thor, his helmet askew on his black curls and a Toys ‘R Us hammer clenched in one chubby hand. She can’t help the huge grin splitting her face. “You ready to defend the Earth?”

He nods solemnly, his free hand wrapped around his mom’s steady fingers. Darcy glances up at his mother and sees her beaming back.

“Awesome. Well, hold onto that,” and she nods to the mock Mjolnir, “and thank you. You’re a huge hero.”

They go on their way, aiming for the pizza place participating in the Trick or Treat on Main Street. When Darcy stands back up, her bag thumping against her side, she doesn’t begrudge Thor’s time on Earth quite so much any more.

Because there are more than a few adults dressed up to accompany their kids, Darcy doesn’t think twice about the bright red cloak stationed by the art gallery. It’s only when her preoccupied mind takes the brunette dwarfed by her companion and adds in the gleam of armor that her neurons hit the ‘Emergency Alert’ button and it clicks.

“Jane!”

That’s Jane, searching the people in the crowd, and that’s Thor, and they’re really here on the streets of Culver’s college town.

“What are you doing here?” She half-asks, half-laughs as Jane spots her. The scientist’s face lights up with a smile and she steps away from the gallery window to meet her, cheeks flushed with the cold.

“It’s Halloween,” Jane says, as if that’s all the explanation that she needs. “Did you really think I’d miss showing Thor The Blair Witch Project?”

“Well, yeah.” Darcy looks up - and up, and up - at Thor. “Why are you all decked out?” It had been a logical decision on everyone’s part to keep Jane’s relationship with the Avenger a secret. Meaning, for instance, that she shouldn’t be out in public with him when he was in full-on Asgardian mode.

“‘Tis an evening of costumes and trickery, Darcy Lewis,” the god in question replies with an honest-to-other-God twinkle in his eyes. He’s the only person she knows who can pull that off. “Many a Thor is walking the streets of Midgard this night. No one has yet realized that I am the true one, and I doubt that any mortal will.”

“I recognized you,” she feels obliged to point out.

“Aye, but you knew me before all else but Jane. Yours are keen eyes, that see truth and a kinder world.”

Well, then.

“You’re forgiven for stealing Jane.” She pats him on the arm, taking a moment to appreciate the incredible architecture of his muscles, and finds Jane giving her an amused look. ‘Hide in plain sight’ is pretty dubious logic at best. But then, given that Darcy doesn’t see uncountable iPhones out and snapping photos, it’s probably going to work for tonight. Speaking of which…

“You guys are really here just to spend Halloween with me?”

“Of course. As much as I miss teaching, I’m not going to come back just to see drunk frat boys and their ridiculous costumes.” Jane’s expression says exactly what she thinks about the groups of students who will be stumbling around the campus buildings tonight. “And the stars can wait for a night. I can’t do your startled shrieking justice, and Saw just wouldn’t be the same without it.”

“Happy to be of help,” Darcy manages. Crying is even more ridiculous than feeling stupid earlier was. There’s no way she’s going to even sniffle. “Did you bring candy? Because you know all they sell around here-”

“-is the cheap Tootsie-roll stuff.” Her old boss lifts the bag slung over her shoulder. “I remember, Darcy.”

“Good. Then I hope you brought kettlecorn too; we ran out after our last showing of Pacific Rim.” Lifting her chin, she gives them a huge smile and pulls herself together. “C’mon, we’ve got movies to watch and a god to terrify!”

She remembers to text Annie halfway back to the apartment, letting her know not to be alarmed if a ‘godly figure’ answers the door when she comes back from her parties. _And if you hear screaming down the stairwell, good,_ she adds, and hits ‘Send.’

Annie’s reply comes in the opening minutes of The Ring: a string of emojis that Darcy translates into, “Are you kidding? Holy monkeys. Told you she missed you!”

She laughs, putting the phone down by the bowl of Skittles, and settles in on the creaking couch with Jane and Thor, all of them ready to be scared.

It’s the best Halloween she can remember, good candy or no.


End file.
